Qualifications

Diploma in Beverage Packaging () Unit 1.4 Small Pack Operations

Theory and Practice of Filling Technology

Learning Material © Institute of Brewing and Distilling 2011

DIPLOMA IN PACKAGING (BEER) - MODULE 1 1.4.3.2 Glass bottle filling: UNIT 1.4: Small Pack Operations • Pre-evacuation

• Short tube and long tube filling ELEMENT 1.4.3: Theory and Practice of Filling • Fill height control Technology. • Burst bottle procedures (see also 1.4.7.2)

• Safety ABSTRACT: This section provides information on the filling • Common filling problems, reasons and of small pack containers. It introduces the basic theory remedies behind the process as well as introducing different filler

types for associated packages. 1.4.3.3 PET bottle filling:

LEARNING OUTCOMES: On completion of this unit you will • CO2 flushing be able to: • Key differences with glass bottle filling

Common filling problems, reasons and 1. Understand the theory behind the filling process • remedies 2. Comprehend the principles behind different types

bottle and can fillers. 1.4.3.4 Can filling: 3. Understand the history and basic technology behind in-package ‘widgets’. • CO2 flushing • Key differences with glass bottle filling SYLLABUS. • Common filling problems, reasons and remedies 1.4.3.1 Filling theory and principles: 1.4.3.5 Sterile and aseptic filling: • Specific issues for beer: - Head retention • Reasons for sterile or aseptic filling (for - Damaging effects of oxygen treatment of beer prior to filling see 1.2.4) - Key issues for filler design and operation • Primary materials preparation • The filling cycle • Filler enclosures • Fillers: • Sterilizing the filler - Mechanical • Process controls and procedures - Electro-pneumatic - Volumetric 1.4.3.6 Widget technology:

• Purpose of widgets and their development • Widget theory and operating principles • Types of widgets for cans and bottles • Issues associated with widget technology

2 Diploma in Beverage Packaging (Beer)

Element 1.4.3 Theory and Practice of Filling Technology

1.4.3.1 Filling Theory and principles: swept at high level onto a conveyor.

Introduction Unpacker During this operation bottles are removed from crates or A small pack operation refers to the packaging of any cartons. This can be done using a reciprocal, continuous container from which you can directly consume a product. (vertical or horizontal) or robotic machine. The heads can In 2003 the Irish and British small pack only represented be fitted with clamps or inflatable tulips (so called as they 25% and 43% of the market respectively. In these markets are tulip-shaped). The tulips fit over the bottles and are draught are more popular but they are declining at inflated in order that they may be lifted. In some cases the rate of about 1% per annum. In Western Europe and automatic bottle sorters are installed after the unpacker. Russia, small pack represents 78% and 93% of the market respectively and South Africa 94% – a very different picture. Washer/Rinser Depending on the operation a rinser or washer or, indeed, Small pack is produced in glass, metal or plastic. A very a combination of both maybe used. The washer will be small quantity has recently been produced in Tetra Pak type used for returnable bottles and is usually double ended i.e. board but the beer contains very little gas. bottles enter one end and exit the other end. If a line is for non-returnable bottles a rinser will be used and it is normal In order to produce package beer in its basic form, a filler to install it as a ‘monobloc’ or in combination with the will be required. The oldest form of filler was the siphon filler. If both returnable and non-returnable bottles are type and the label was applied by hand. Siphon filling was used both a rinser and washer maybe installed and then manual in operation and a bulb was used to create the flow the appropriate machine is by-passed. into the bottle. The beer at this stage was not carbonated but was primed to allow a secondary fermentation to take Filler and Crowner place in the bottle, so giving it the condition required for A mechanical or electro-pneumatic filler could be used. The serving. The prime had to be calculated against the time of sizing will be appropriate to the line size and in cases where the year to give perfect and naturally conditioned beer over there is no tunnel pasteurizer will be the core machine. If a 14 to 21 day period. It is still possible to purchase the filler is filling sterile beer it will probably be enclosed in naturally conditioned beer but it will now be bottled using a a ‘clean room’. counter-pressure filler on a more modern line. The typical situation would be beer at 4°C and 5.5 g/l CO2; As filling techniques became faster and more sophisticated, this would require a 144 valve filling machine for filling 275 inevitably other machinery which supplied and took ml bottles at 60,000 bph. containers to and from the filler also became necessary and had to keep pace. For example, basket type pasteurizers Fillers are produced in a range of diameters and pitches were introduced for bright beer that required a good shelf between valves as are crowners. The filler above could life when exported. This could no longer be a batch process have a pitch of 94 mm and the crowner would match this. for the sake of speed, and this then led to the development A crowner to match this filler would have 24 heads. of in-package or tunnel pasteurizers as we know them today. Can Fillers and Seamers are also produced in a range of diameters and pitches between valves. With the introduction of non-returnable bottles, cans and now PET bottles, lines become faster and more complex. A A typical Filler Seamer combination for filling 330 ml cans typical line would be made up of the following: with beer at 4°C and 5.5 g/l CO2 at 90,000 cph would be a 150 valve filler and an 18 head Seamer, both at 90 mm Depalletizer pitch. These can operate at high or low level. High level depalletisers are faster as the cycle time is shorter. Tunnel Pasteurizer Depalletizing can be for crates, cartons or bulk delivery. For If the product is not sterile (i.e. treated through the use of crates each layer on the pallet is normally clamped by a sterile filtration or plate pasteurization) a tunnel head and lifted onto a table from where they are driven pasteurizer will be used to pasteurizer the beer in package. onto a conveyor and orientated with the narrow edge Due to the necessity to keep the pasteurizer full it is often leading in preparation for decrating. The motion can either the core machine on the line. be reciprocal between columns or robotic. For bulk delivery of new bottles, each layer can be clamped using a Labeller pneumatic cushion and lifted onto a conveyor, or more The labeller maybe wet glue for paper or self-adhesive for commonly swept at high level onto a conveyor. Cans are pressure sensitive labeling (PSL). Wet glue labelers can run Dipl.Pack Revision Notes v2 October 2011 3

at speeds of up to 1200bpm, where as self -adhesive twice which will give a 99% pure CO 2 gas in the bottle labelers may run up to 800bpm. before filling. It is possible on electroni c fillers to have three pre-evacuations but this is not normally used Packer because: The crating operation is identical to the crating operation, only in reverse. 1. There is a reduction of filling capacity of the filler, and therefore output

Multiple Packaging 2. The gain is only 0.9% CO 2 purity which is not really Packaging into crates is only suitable for the returnable significant trade. Multiple packaging, which is often referred to as soft

packaging, is suitable for one trip packaging, and is Flushing with CO 2, as is the case for PET and cans, will extensively used to sell the product. Kraft and corrugated generally give a result above 90% CO 2 purity, but it will be board, and plastic are used in different forms in order to lower than that achieved with the pre -evacuation of glass collate the containers into 4s 6s 8s 10s 12s 15s etc and bottles. these in turn are packed into a units of, normally, 24 or 30. 1.4.3.2 Class Bottle Filling : Palletizer The reciprocal and robotic palletisers are similar to the When filling beer into glass bottles, therefore, a pre - depalletisers. High level palletisers will also operate faster. evacuation o r flushing facility will be required. It is also The issue with high level palletisers is being able to feed possible to limit oxygen uptake by using a long tube rather them faster enough. As a result, twin lane feeds are often than short tube filler. used . The pallet is on a lowerator, and as it receives each layer, the pallet moves down to receive the next one. With a long tube filler, the beer is filled from the bottom of Hydraulic lowerators are faster than their mechanical the bottle and then rises gently with only the top surface in equivalent but it means digging a hole in the floor to accept contact with the gas space in the bottle. the hydraulic cylinder. Low le vel palletisers require more mechanical effort in order to lift each layer and sweep it With a short tube filler, the beer flows down the outside of onto the top of the pallet. the tube, and it is then deflected by a spreader rubber fitted to the tube. This directs the flow of beer down the Filling Principles for Carbonated Beverages inside side-wall of the bottle. The whole of the surface area of the beer flowing down the side of the bottle is therefore Beer and Other Carbonated Drinks in contact with the gas space during filling.

There are a number of types of filler on the market. The following two diagrams illustrate the differences, and However, one principle always applies, and that is demonstrate how the beer is exposed to the gas that it is carbonated beverages must be filled under pressure in displacing. It can be seen that with the long tube filler only order to keep the gas (carbon dioxide and sometimes the top surface of the beer is exposed so, as a result, the ) in solution. Fillers employing this principal are oxygen uptake is less than it is with a short tube filler. called barometric or more commonly coun ter -pressure fillers. Another type of filler would be a vacuum filler which is normally used for wine or spirit filling. Previously, gravity fillers were used, but these do not give such a clean fill.

For beer, filling is more difficult than for other car bonated beverages because of two unique qualities:

1. Head retention 2. The damaging effect of oxygen

There are three benefits in filling Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSDs) or Flavoured Alcoholic Beverages (FABs) when compared to beer. Firstly, one can carbonate en route to the filler; secondly, as there is no fob created during filling, fill height adjustment is much easier; and thirdly, oxygen absorption is not normally a problem.

For beer filling it is necessary to remove oxygen from the container before filling. This is done by pre -evacuating a

glass bottle or CO 2 flushing a PET bottle or can before filling. Pre-evacuation is carried out by applying a 90% vacuum Figure 1 Short tube filler

4 Diploma in Beverage Packaging (Beer)

bottle to prevent over-fill. The fill level is sensed by a probe and this shuts off the supply of beer to the bottle.

Figure 3 Filling Cycle KHS Innofill ZMS Electro -Pneumatic Filler. 3 x Pre evacuations and rinsing with return gas

Fillers can also be volumetric . With these fillers the volume beer can be metered via a magnetic flow (magflo) meter or alternatively each head is fitted with a cylinder of a given Figure 2 Long tube filler volume. The volume released by the cylinder is programmed via a float or conductivity probe. A filler The long tube filler shown in this illustration shows the designed for volumetric filling does not need a ring bowl filling of a PET bottle. This assists in reducing the uptake of for beer, but may well be fed from a constant pressure tank oxygen because pre-evacuation is not possible with PET. as controlled conditions are required for an accurate and smooth operation. Volumetric fillers are not used for glass The popular choice for bottle beer filling is a short tube bottle filling as levels may differ due to the different filler with pre-evacuation, and with double pre -evacuation content levels for each bottle so giving a ragged good oxygen levels can be achieved. There is very little PET appearance on the shelf. Although this should not be the bottling, most of it is in returnable or non-returnable glass case for one trip bottles, it will certainly be the case for bottles. Short tube fillers are easier to maintain and tubes returnable bottles. Volumetric filling is commonly used for and change parts are cheaper. Waste will also be slightly PET due to the elasticity of the bottle and, more recently, lower as the tube will carry less beer when it is withdrawn for can filling as it easier to programme volumes. from the bottle. The remaining categories for fillers are sterile and aseptic . Fillers can be mechanical or electro-pneumatic . The main The two terms, although similar in meaning, have very difference is that, on the mechanical version, the filling different meanings when it comes to filling. Sterile filling is cycle is operated by trips and cams which ar e located at set a term used for filling when it is important to ensure there points around the circumference of the filler. The trips turn is little or n o pick up of infection during filling. This would the levers on the filling heads, and the cams operate the apply when beer is filled after being flash pasteurised or vacuum and snift valves. So, in order for the filling cycle to sterile filtered. Generally a modern standard filler can be complete, the filler must continuously rotate. The fill level used for this type filling, because they are easy to clean, is controlled by the length of vent tube (short tube) which and a disciplined cleaning regime is all that is necessary to returns the gas to the filler bowl. When the beer covers ensure good product. The filler may be placed in a guarded the end of the tube it prevents the return of gas and area which is kept clean. Aseptic filling is what it means. therefore stops the filling operation. The filler is enclosed in a bug free environment. This would normally mean a separate room which is fi tted with a With the electro-pneumatic version the filling cycle is sterile air filter and the air is changed frequently. The room programmed for each filling head. The filling cycle does will kept at a slight positive pressure to ensure no ingress not, therefore, depend on the rotation of the filler for the of dirty air. cycle to operate. This is an advantage when the filler stops with bottles on it, as the filling cycle will continue to be er Beer is quite a robust product due to its alcohol and hop shut off. On the mechanical filler the beer valve can be content which both act as antiseptics. However , it needs to open and one is dependent on a perfect seal between the be remembered that non-alcoholic beers are not as robust, valve and so tunnel pasteurisation or aseptic filling may have to be

Dipl.Pack Revision Notes v2 October 2011 5

considered for products in that category.

Engineering issues in filler design

The key engineering issues in filler design are: ° Smooth empty container transfer from filer infeed conveyor to filling station ° Removal of oxygen from container and counter pressuring container with minimal contamination of top pressure gas in filler beer chamber. ° Transfer of beer from infeed main through rotary seal to filler bowl and then into the container at the required rate consistently with minimal fobbing. To do this pressure shocks and turbulence need to be minimised. The filler bowl level control system needs to interface with the beer supply system to minimise over energy input from the feed pump without too many Figure 4 Evacuation pump stops and starts for the pump design. ° Consistent fill levels with the ability to adjust the filling level on each head to minimise fill level standard deviation. Filling head control valves and seals need to perform consistently. ° Smooth consistent release of pressure from the container at the end of the fill which avoids pressure shocking the beer in the container resulting in fobbing. ° Smooth transfer of filled container from filling head to application of closure. ° Minimum disruption to filling performance from filler starts and stops.

The Filling Cycle

Different types of fillers have already been discussed. It is now understood, therefore, that fillers used for beer are counter-pressure fillers and are generally short tube. For Figure 5 CO 2 Flushing glass bottle fillers the air is displaced by CO 2 using pre- evacuation. Vacuum (90%) is normally applied twice leaving 1% air in the bottle. For plastic bottles and cans, the air is flushed out as vacuum would crush these bottles. The container is then pressurised until the pressure is equal to the pressure in the filler bowl; on equalisation, the valve will open allowing the beer to flow down the inner side of the container. As soon as the beer reaches the tip of the vent valve the return gas passage will be blocked so allowing an immediate pressure build up in the bottle which will, in turn, stop the beer flowing. See figs 4 to 10.

Each filling valve will fill at a slightly different speed. The shut off trip needs to be placed just after the slowest filling valve to avoid ragged filling. The container is then snifted to release the top pressure. This is done via a button valve which rides along a cam which gently pushes the button in and therefore slowly releases the pressure. When the container exits the filler, a jetter (normally hot water), in the case of bottles, is used to excite the beer and expel the Figure 6 Final Evacuation air from the headspace with fob.

6 Diploma in Beverage Packaging (Beer)

Figure 10 Snifting The jetter is set so that the overflow is just taking place as

the crown, or any other closure, is placed on top of the Figure 7 CO 2 Counter-pressure bottle.

1.4.3.4 Can Filling:

For cans, the sequence is very similar. The difference is that: • There is no vacuum as the can will crush. The same applies to PET. Instead of vacuum, the cans or PET

bottles are flushed with CO 2 so expelling the air. About 98% purity can be achieved. • The tubes are raised and lowered as the cans are not raised by lifts.

Figure 8 Filling

Figure 11 The System

Figure 9 Shut Off

Figure 12 CO 2 Gas Rinsing

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Figure 17 Snift At the end of can filling the cans cannot be fobbed over to Figure 13 Counter-pressure expel the air as the top opening is too large for this to work. Also it is not possible to close-couple a filler with a can seamer. For cans therefore the air is expelled in two stages. Firstly, there is a bubble-breaker which literally bursts the bubbles lying on the surface of the beer in order to release any air that may be trapped. Secondly, while seaming is

taking place, gas – normally CO 2 is blown under the lid as seaming takes place. This is known as under-cover gassing (UCG) .

Common filling problems, reasons and remedies. B OTTLE FILLER

Typical problems are illustrated below with reference to a Figure 14 Lower tube/Fill short tube mechanical filler:

Problem 1:

Repeatedly empty bottles not being pre pressurised at the same filling valve.

Possible Reasons & remedies:

The position of the control disc is incorrect, worn or damaged. Adjust or replace control disc.

Figure 15 End Fill

Problem 2:

The Filler bowl keeps flooding.

Possible Reasons & remedies :

1. The floats are set incorrectly, too high or too low. Adjust Figure 16 Shut off/Lift Tube float screws on top of filler bowl.

2. Pressure set incorrectly. Ensure pressure settings are set

8 Diploma in Beverage Packaging (Beer)

as per instruction, Slight adjustment may be required either side of specified gauge settings to allow optimum performance or speed increases.

Problem 3:

The bottle is pressurised, the liquid valve however does not open.

Possible reasons & remedies:

1. The mouthpiece between the filling head and the bottle is unseated or damaged, pressurising gas is escaping and no pressure is created inside the bottle. Check for mouthpiece damage or rubber securing ring damage. Replace the mouthpiece or bottle seal if required or reset position of mouthpiece and secure with new rubber securing rings.

Snift Valve Schematic

Problem 4:

Bottles are not filled completely at the same filling head.

Possible reasons & remedies :

1. The vent tube is bent or the spreader is damaged or missing. The beer runs down the vent tube and obstructs the return gas passage, which causes the valve to stop filling. Check vent tube for above problems and replace or straighten as per requirement.

2. The snift valve is leaky. Impurities may have entered the valve. If the pressure spring is broken it may be possible that the snift valve is not closed correctly. In both of these cases the pressure compensation between ring vessel and bottle being required for the automatic opening of the filling valve is not achieved.

2. Due to leakages between the bottle and the filling valve the opening of the liquid valve is delayed so that the filling procedure at the sealing unit has not yet been finished. Check and replace damaged mouthpiece.

3. The position of the control disc is incorrect, worn or Check for visible damage to nylon packing and press in damaged. Adjust or replace control disc. tappet valve fully to check for smooth operation. Loosen and remove the tappet valve plate retaining screws and Problem 5: remove retaining plate remove tappet casing and check spring is undamaged. Replace parts as required. Foaming or fob filling at a filling head.

Possible reasons & remedies : Problem 6: Dipl.Pack Revision Notes v2 October 2011 9

1. Insufficient or only partial snifting of the bottle. Check Filling head holding onto bottles when exiting the filling whether tappet can be pressed by at least 2mm. If unable stage into the outfeed star wheel. to, replace cap. Possible reasons & remedies: 2. Snifting nozzle obstructed by impurities. Remove the snifting valve and clean using compressed air. Snift valve sticking or damaged. Check for visible damage to nylon packing and press in tappet valve fully to check for 3. The vent tube is bent or the spreader is damaged, smooth operation. Loosen and remove the tappet valve resulting in turbulences in the bottle when the beer is plate retaining screws and remove retaining plate remove streaming in. Check and replace vent tube if required tappet casing and check spring is undamaged. Replace parts as required. 4. Snift or Vacuum spring is damaged. Remove tappet valve retaining plate and replace springs as required. Common filling problems, reasons and remedies.

CAN FILLER 5. Packing at the air valve cone is damaged. Due to this pre- pressurising gas is introduced into the beverage after the Typical problems are illustrated below with reference to an valve has closed during the snifting process. Check whether electronic volumetric filler: pre-pressurising gas is escaping from the plug in vent tube when the filling valve is closed. The filling valve has to be dismantled and the packing has to be replaced. If the filling Problem 1: valve needs to be dismantled the bottle-centring device has to be removed. Whole Filler Fobs All Heads

Possible reasons & remedies :

Level probe in metering chamber can jam causing chamber to overflow into gas system. Condensation likely to appear for full length of measuring chamber (Figure 4.39)

Problem 2:

Part Fills

Possible reasons & remedies

1. Worn diaphragm valve seat, if seat sealing very poor then no fill will take place 2. No 2 valve seat leaks

Problem 3:

Explosive release of pressure from can when hold down cylinder raised.

Possible reasons & remedies

Failure of No 4 (snift) valve.

Problem 4:

High in can DO

Possible reasons & remedies Cutaway diagram of filling valve, showing air valve cone packing location No 8 (flush) valve has failed open.

Problem 5: into a glass. Then, using the initiator, draw the 10 Diploma in Beverage Packaging (Beer)

Guinness into the syringe-type body and shoot into the No fill takes place body of the beer. This was sufficient to release the gas which settled as a creamy head on the beer. However, self- Possible reasons & remedies initiation was what was wanted.

Damaged can rim Work started on the In Can System (ICS) during 1984 and the patent applied for during 1986. This later became known as the widget.

The plan was to introduce a plastic capsule into the can, pressurise it during the filling process, and then allow it to release the pressure in a controlled manner when the can was opened. See fig 18. The real difficulties to be overcome were: • The elimination of oxygen from the widget • Consistency of pressure in the can • The prevention of overflow from the can on opening • The elimination of oxygen from the head space • The interference fit for the widget

Volumetric Can Filler Section

1.4.3.6 Widget Technology: Figure 18 Showing how the initiation works when the can is opened Widget technology is distinctly a British and Irish thing. The widget was introduced to the market in January 1988 by Elimination of Oxygen from the Widget Guinness (now part of Diageo). occupies a significant proportion of the beer sales, although this is The initial idea was to blow mould the widgets using diminishing due to a major change in drinking habits. nitrogen. The filling line would then be provided with a However draught beer still accounts for over 50% of all beer laser to burn a hole in the widget. This was abandoned sales. The challenge, therefore, was to produce in small when it became clear that firstly it was difficult to operate pack a draught beer similar to that found in the pub. and secondly oxygen would contaminate the widget when the line sat idle. The next stage was to produce a widget in This was a difficult thing to do. After all, in a pub they have two pieces by injection moulding. These two pieces were a dispenser with a tap. The tap can be fitted with a device welded together and the cap had a hole about 0.35mm in to agitate the beer and knock the gas out of solution and so diameter through which some form of gas exchange and form the head. The reason why this is difficult is because the final initiation could take place. the CO 2 level is low, about 2 g/l (standard beer is more than double this) and nitrogen is added to give the creamy head An old Meyer filler was developed so that vacuum could be to level of about 4%. applied to the can. The can had to be shrouded and held down so that it did not collapse! A nitrogen gas pressure During 1979 Draught Guinness was launched in a bottle and was then applied, and this cycle happened three times. The an initiator, which looked rather like a plastic syringe, was final pressure was equal to the bowl pressure which provided. The idea was to pour the very flat looking allowed filling to commence. This worked but it was not efficient. The next filler developed had no vacuum, but the

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pressure during gas exchange was doubled. The problem handle and gave a better result which pleased marketing. was that the filler would try and fill when the pressure in Interestingly the force of initi ation was not so great, so the the can was equal to that in the bowl. This was overcome can could be opened warm. This development also allowed by fitting a small piston onto each filling head, 120 of them. the speed of production to be increased and the head This would hold the valve closed during the gas exchange space to be reduced which in turn reduced the dissolved operation. oxygen.

The next stage, installed d uring 1995, made the whole situation easier. Krones had developed a filler for sterile filling of cans. It was electronic and had an extra port for the introduction of steam to the can. This port was ideal for nitrogen exchange and this is what is used tod ay.

Consistency of Pressure in the Can The way that the can is pressurised is by dosing in liquid nitrogen just before the seaming operation. It was then quickly inverted after seaming to allow the gas to enter the widget. The answer for consistent press ure would be to use discretionary dosing so as to ensure that each can received Figure 19 an equal quantity of nitrogen. Unfortunately, the only unit capable was unreliable so continuous dosing was adopted. Types of widgets for cans and bottles This led to the inevitable variability in pressures which h ad to be checked using a device produced by Taptone that Interestingly, Guinness were not first with the bottle. checked the pressure of the can by measuring the tightness of the lid (like a drum). After a lot of effort a good Whitbread achieved this in 1995. A floating widget was consistency was achieved. One unexpected consequence forced into the bottle and it was then injected with liquid was a build of ice on the convey or due to the liquid nitrogen in a similar fashion to the can. It was difficult to nitrogen going onto the conveyor between cans. achieve consistency as the mouth of a bottle is so small when compared to the can. It took Guinness a further five The Prevention of Overflow from the Can on Opening years to develop theirs. Liquid nitrogen was not used. The Due to the initiation of the Guinness taking place in the can, beer was initially nitrogenated and a special crowner was the head being formed had to go somewhere. The solution built. The widget was introduced to the top of the bottle was to under fill a conventional can. So a 500ml can was after it was filled, and it sat there like a cork in a re -corked filled to 440ml giving 60ml of free space. This is equivalent wine bottle. A shroud was then placed over the bottle and to about 20mm in fill level. This made it extremely difficult this created a seal at the neck. The bottle was then gas to fill standard cans until the electronic filler was installed. exchanged with nitrogen, and when under pressure, the The other point worth menti oning is that the can needs to crownin g head operated and pushed the widget into the be chilled. If opened at room temperature it inevitably bottle and crowned the bottle. This gave a very consistent over-flowed! product and sells well in the USA.

The Elimination of Oxygen from the Head Space In order to overcome over-flow the head space had to be increased. This made it much more difficult to displa ce the air in the head space between the filler and seamer. Coupled with this, only nitrogen could be used. This was because carbon dioxide (which is heavier than air) would be quickly absorbed by the beer. What evolved was an efficient bubble breaker and a nitrogen tunnel to respectively expel the air and then maintain a nitrogen atmosphere. Work was ongoing in this area as oxygens were always higher due to the larger head space.

The Interference Fit for the Widget Figure 20 The bottle widget which floats in the beer with Marketing never liked the idea of a floating widget. From a the flat end downwards production view point it was what we wanted. The plastic capsule being pushed to the bottom of the can required a The Other Brewers lot of handling. The widget had to be orientated, transported, picked up and then placed in the can. It also Whitbread (Now AB InBev) had to be tilted as the can mouth was smaller than the Inevitably other brewers were not going to stand idly by base. The machinery required to do this was too complex. and introduced their draught system in 1991. Whitbread So, in 1997, the floating widget was borne. It was simpler to was first as they had Murphys Stout so had a real interest

12 Diploma in Beverage Packaging (Beer)

in developing their own widget. They also have a cream Theakstons in 1993. The act of opening the can caused the beer (nitrogenated) called Boddingtons. Their first design widget to extend and a knife cut a tube which released was pre-pressurised with nitrogen and introduced to the nitrogen into the beer. Courage , which is now part of can before filling. This widget was in two parts comprising a Scottish and Newcastle, had their own widget which they main chamber and with a central spigot and snap -fit lid introduced in 1993 with John Smit hs Bitter. It was basically with a hole. When the can wa s opened, the pressure a chamber with a snap-fit lid with a hole at its base. differential allowed the spigot to lift from the hole and Scottish and Newcastle continued to use this widget after release the pressure into the beer. The next design was a the merger. In 1999 they used the Guinness widget until weight biased floating widget which used duck bill valves they developed their own widget in 2005. top and bottom. The top valve allowed the widget to be pres surised. The bottom valve released the pressure into the beer to introduce the pressure and initiate the beer. The filling technique was similar to Guinness with liquid nitrogen being used to pressurise the widget.

Figure 23 The Courage widget – two versions, same principle

Figure 21 Whitbread widgets. Left to r ight, first pressurised widget, floating widgets for can, aluminium and plastic, and the bottle widget which also had duck bill valves

Bass (Now Coors and InBev) Bass introduced their system in 1992 with Worthington Best Bitter. It comprised a polyethylen e sheet which was pleated and held in place by a plastic retaining ring. The porous sheet trapped the CO2 and released them when the can was opened. This gave inconsistent results and was followed by a widget which was developed with their can Figure 24 Scottish& Newcastle, old and new. Note the supplier, Co ntinental Can (now Ball Packaging Europe). This complexity of the initial widget design on the left. was initially aluminium and is now plastic and is stuck with adhesive to the base of the can. The can is delivered with Carlsberg-Tetley (Now Carlsberg) the widget in place. It works in a similar fashion to the This widget was also introduced in 1993 and worked in the Guinness widget. same way as the Guinness widget. It however needed a retaining ring and was not easy to use on the line. They also used the Guinness widget but in 2003 decide to use the widget which was developed by Bass and Continental Can – see above.

Figure 22 The Bass widgets Scottish and Newcastle AND Courage ( Heineken ) Scottish and Newcastle had the most complicated widget of all. It had five separate components and was assembled Figure 25 The Tetley wi dget under a positive nitrogen pressure. It was launched with

Dipl.Pack Revision Notes v2 October 2011 13